What if we add KD for spare parts and a couple of picks, and despite his incredible talent and impeccable resume, it causes issue with team chemistry and we don't play nearly as well? What if he bristles at being hard-coached by a guy who's only been a head coach for a couple of years? There are many what-ifs to adding a superstar ego to a young team. There's no guarantee that we plug the guy in and he automatically leads us to a title.
From my perspective, we are helping them offload their problems. I’m not seeking Durant, so I’m not interested in what anyone thinks it would “take” to get him. But if Phoenix is ready to throw in the towel and it makes sense for us to work with them, I’ll listen.
That's a 5 for 1 deal. They have to have 4 available roster spots to even accept that deal. Unlikely that they'd dump 4 of their guys to take on those guys.
We are one Durant away from a title. We just can't give away anyone more than FVV and maybe Reed and no more than one of the Phoenix picks. Durant played 70 games last year and is playing great this year. We could load manage the hell out of him as long is all we give up is FVV and one high value pick and another low value pick. Maybe Reed (big deal). With Durant we are instant contenders.
Trades do not make any sense at the moment. The consensus winning move for the Rockets during the off-season was keeping all their young guys and letting them grow another season instead of making a block buster trade, since last season already showed strong indication of growth going to a 41-41 record. Before the start of this season, most projections only put the Rockets in the play-ins at best, with no more than 40-45 wins. Rockets currently have the 4th best record in the league, 2nd in the West, and well ahead of projections and estimations. If they maintain their current win rate, they will end the season with 56 wins. If the Rockets do end up with 56 wins, and get to at least the 2nd round this season, standing pat and keeping their core would again be a good move. Furthermore, if we look at the last 3-4 seasons, how many block buster trades for aging super max players have actually worked out?
Wait...are you saying Chris Paul "wouldn't" use a spoon to dig a hole through a concrete wall, hidden behind a poster of Cardi B?
If Stone thinks that adding KD gives us a title window, then I think we do a deal. I would love to see OKC fans get nervous when we get KD for a bag of chips, lol. Imagine beating OKC in the playoffs with their star!
There's a "what if" in any trade, including in standing pat. What if they cool down like the middle of last season? We have to look at the evidence. Of all the types of stars in the league, let's be honest, he coincidentally happens to be the most plug n play one. He doesn't want to be the PG. He is elite off ball. He plays good defense. He shares the ball, gets 4-5 assists. Even on a 72-win team, he does his thing as a sniper. You don't have to change anything. It's effectively fast forwarding Jabari Smith Jr by about 3-4 years to when he's deadly from everywhere and looks in the NBA like he did in college. How good would we be with that? I love Jabari as a prospect - even for him coming off the bench, I think this would help his career a lot. He will get his 32 minutes regardless. He will be our starting PF later and better than he otherwise would've been if he's watching Durant and playing a lot and even closing games a lot. Durant has to be rested plenty. That has to be the strategy. We're not talking about inserting a new guy to play through or a guy for whom we have to change our style of play. We can literally just run the exact same plays and they would now work a lot better because you can't sit your ass in the paint against us anymore, even on somewhat-contested 3's Durant will destroy you. He's looked good as small ball 5 in some spurts in his career too - good shotblocker. I didn't say he will lead us to a title, I said we would be a title contender like any other. Honestly Durant can duel SGA on points easily - they will exchange give or take 32 ppg in this big series, they function the same, they do their own thing and it has very little to do with the defender that night. The rest of our team vs the rest of their team? We're significantly better. Sengun/Amen/Green and all the core. It's championship calibre depth. We would have a dark horse shot at it for sure if they have half a season to build some chemistry. We wouldn't be the favorites unless we go on some historic tear to finish the season. Which I wouldn't $1 bet against. It's not just a good tactical fit. It's a DREAM tactical fit for Ime's offense and our situation let's be honest. We go from starting Brooks/Jabari at forward to Amen/Durant. That's a whole other dimension of good. Don't underestimate what we can do if he can give us 2.5 good seasons - by which time our youngsters will be fully capable of being title contenders themselves and our draft pick closet will still be full. It's definitely not something to sneeze at the way people are dismissing it based on narratives. BONUS: he already has been a willing mentor for Jabari and Jalen IIRC. They definitely have a good relationship and what about the mentorship alone from a 2-time champion and HOFer? One of the greatest to ever play? What about covering up for Ime's still-improving offensive tactics and the youngsters' skills by giving him a guy who is going to do what he does no matter where you put him? 27 points on 50/40/85 and good defense. That is +/- 10% exactly what we will be getting. The rest of the starters would all get to be way more selective with their shots and be more open than they've ever been literally in their entire lives. This is probably the greatest shot maker they've ever played with, almost all of them. They will look good. If we can negotiate the Suns down a bit, I think we should do it. I think the Ringer article is crazy, we would never trade that much. We should just give them a call a few days before the deadline and just check what they would truly do it for. 1 great unprotected pick and 2 mediocre picks would still leave us with - IIRC - 4 picks and a swap this summer (not 100% sure but something like that). They might convince me into one more crappy frp. When his contract expires we will have 5 picks I believe. We wouldn't have lost anyone from the core - still all under team control. Such a safe move. This is conditional on Jalen being able to give us like 22 decently efficient ppg the rest of the way and continuing to play the defense he's been playing the last couple of months. For sure more assists with Durant on the floor. That's my case. You may disagree, but it's not nothing. I say do it Stone. Spoiler: Trade Proposal Trade #1 Brooks to Pistons or Heat or something for a not-bad contract (Duncan Robinson and Richardson?) and a protected pick. Call it Pick A. Trade #2 We would effectively be trading: - Dillon Brooks (Those contracts and pick A) - Steven Adams (I know, but the math is otherwise hard) - Ja'Sean Tate - Aaron Holiday - 1 Great pick they really want, we must offer this to beat other teams out, worth what we're getting - 2-3 bad to mediocre frp's - Who cares about 2nd rounds picks you can buy them, throw 2 in there if it matters Receiving: Durant 1 Filler We would have to quickly sign or acquire 2 vet minimum signings.
I agree with thatboyNick, the price is the important part here. PHX wont trade KD cuz they gave up so much to get him and Beal. If they trade KD its gonna be for a king's ransom similar to Nets trading Bridges. Basically if they trade KD its to recoup the resources they spent to get their big 3. For his part, KD wont be ok getting traded for expiring and filler, this is the same guy who told Nets to trade DLo for him because DLo was an all star. Matt Ishbia is ok staying in the 2nd apron and paying 500M in taxes. Dude has a 160M offer for Jimmy Buckets extension lol.
This is good from Rox side but PHX would want more for KD. They can trade KD to other teams and get more stuff in return..
What if we get KD and it puts us over the top and we win a title? There's no guarantee that you plug in a guy and it automatically leads to the worst possible outcomes. P.S. KD loves Udoka. He was an assistant under Nash in Brooklyn and when Nash was fired KD wanted Udoka to be the head coach.
The ONLY offer worth doing: Brooks, Adams, Uncle Jeff, and Landale Plus all their picks (50.8) .,.For.., Durant, Plumlee, and BolBol (55.3) They only have to rehome one other player to make a roster spot for it to work. It’s as clean as we can make it. We take on an extra 4.5M in cap. Us —> Durant, keep all core, downgrade but playable filler in areas of need after the trade on light contacts. Them —> Small forward on a good contract that fits the rest of their team, solid players on expiring contracts as filler and their future back with all their picks. Adams and Brooks may make them a better team because they already have offense.
Phoenix is now the 12 seed in the west and is going to lose 50+ games. Our having the Suns picks doubles or triples their value. I have been for getting Fox and maybe Ant. Stars that fit our timeline. We have two assets we got because we had to use cap space. One has proven to be a dud in FVV. That is why I want to do this trade. I want to jettison a declining asset for a positive one to maximize our assets. We are the 2 seed in the west. When you are this close to power you have to strike. The idea that trade lands are going to be so favorable in the future to give you exactly what you want for the right price are fantasy. Everything is a risk. Durant is a positive tradeable asset that fits our cap timeline for keeping our young guys. Morey waited too long to get rid of Ryno and couldn't. It cost the Harden Rockets their future. History doesn't shine on you often. The Rockets current weakness is shooting. There is not one single player out there we could add that would help us more than Durant. People are so giddy and happy now because we are ahead of schedule and opportunities are going to be there forever. I remember watching the Thunder lose to the Heat and foolishly believing the same thing. Why waste this year if the opportunity is right? We lose a well fought series to the Thunder and cannot beat Boston or Cleveland likely. With Durant we damn sure could with a killer rotation. FVV for Durant and the 2025 and 2027 Suns pick works. If we wanted to get Tyus (hard cap might limit us) we could split the trade to satisfy 2nd apron. If you want to substitute Reed for 2025 or 2027, whatever. The rest of our expiring contracts (Holiday, Tate, Adams, Uncle Jeff, Jock) and 3 2s could get us Butler. Third team with roster spots issues. Outside of maybe Adams none of those players will be Rockets next year. Brooks could be substituted to keep Adams but why considering Brooks could be used in trade later and is positive. We could still reacquire Adams in offseason. I know many of you don't want Butler (and I have been against it for the same reasons) BUT you could get him and not give up ANY of the future beyond 2026. Our future powder would still be dry and after a bad cap 2026 we would have MASSIVE future flexibility and still keep all of our young guys. Butler would stay with this team on his option and we would have the best ability to keep him with Durant and this team on lighter contracts or move on. Sengun, Durant, Butler, Green, Amen Tari, Bari, Brooks, Jones, Cam, Reed
No TY. If they learn from Durants soft ass the young guys will be joining the first team they lose to in the playoffs in free agency. I like the attitude we have now
If we are giving back all the picks Rox should be getting Booker not Durant. Why does 37 yr old KD cost all their picks back? Dude is about to be washed in 2 yrs and he is also injury prone at this point of his career.
